Identity Hunters
We are launching a new podcast! Launched by former students of the nationalism module, this podcast continues our mission: to track how identity is constructed, politicised, and contested, though this time, through conversations!In recent years, nationalism has returned across the globe. From the lasting influence of Donald Trump in the United States, to the growing […]
By Zayd Riaz “Martyrdom is a divine gift to the chosen ones. The magnificence of this lofty position is proportional to the grandeur of the sacrosanct self-sacrifice which draws the martyr to the field of resistance and nourishes him with the sweetness of martyrdom.” Ayatollah Khomeini[1] It was Khomeini who first linked the idea of […]
The Author has requested to remain anonymous. Roestis are a dish made from grated potatoes that are fried in a pan and often served as a pancake. The dish originates from the Swiss-German cantons Bern, Fribourg or Zurich, depending on the version, and was traditionally eaten for breakfast by farmers and peasants. Roestigraben means ‘roesti gap’, it […]
By Zayd Riaz In order to reap change within a society, you create a rhetoric that threatens the very thing that keep the people alive and stable: their identity. The politization of masculinity within 1950s America will be the concept under scrutiny today. Masculinity is an essential foundation in which males throughout history have used […]
“If a man makes himself a worm he must not complain when he is trodden on.” Immanuel Kant, quoted in the movie Cuck (2019) The evolution of the ‘cuck’ trope The comedies of Shakespeare and Chauser frequently featured the character trope of the ‘cuckold’ – a man whose wife is unfaithful, playing into popular Elizabethan […]
By Eliot Tomlinson Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings have inspired many generations, uniting readers in a shared love for epic storytelling and mythological settings. It promotes empathetical values through the union of the races in the Fellowship. This is why I was amazed to hear JD Vance, a strong anti-abortionand anti-immigration politician, claim that “a lot of (his) […]
By Eliot Tomlinson Switzerland is often perceived as a maverick in international politics: a neutral, decentralised State that doesn’t quite fit the typical nation-state model. Its strong federalism, linguistic diversity, and cultural plurality raise questions about whether it can truly be understood as a nation at all. This blog explores how national symbols, particularly food, express […]
Jackie Chan once conquered audiences with his humour, playfulness, and flexible martial arts moves. He fell and bruised his face in Police Stories and subdued gangsters with nunchakus in Rumble in the Bronx, showing the witty, smooth, and slightly flexible Chinese male charm. This image fits China’s soft-power diplomacy strategy at the time, which emphasised […]
By Lena Colle-Tri Vincent Bolloré, often nicknamed “the French Murdoch”, is a French ultra-conservative billionaire and Mogul who built his wealth on an array of industrial investments, namely in the transportation and energy sectors, before acquiring a colossal Media Empire. In his ‘mediatic crusade, Bolloré has pushed nationalist and xenophobic rhetoric, framing immigration as a […]
Identity Hunters 